Bains, a highly versatile and athletic 6’6” guard out of Tamanawis Secondary in Surrey, B.C., spent the previous four seasons playing south of the border, most recently with the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay Phoenix. He’s believed to be the first former NCAA Div. 1 player to sign with the UFV men’s basketball team. Bains has two seasons of eligibility remaining, and he’ll suit up for the Cascades this fall.

“It’s a big signing,” UFV head coach Adam Friesen enthused. “Our goal every year is to recruit the best players in the Fraser Valley, and Sukhjot Bains obviously represents that.

“I think he’s going to have an impact in all areas of the game. Offensively, he’s going to be a weapon that we haven’t had every year. Teams are going to have to game-plan for him, and he’s going to make everyone’s life around him easier.”

In 2013-14, Sukhjot Bains was voted B.C.’s top Grade 12 high school boys basketball player in a poll conducted by The Province newspaper. He averaged 28.5 points, 13.6 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game in leading his Tamanawis Wildcats to the B.C. 4A Final Four.

From there, he spent a post-grad season at Peddie Prep in New Jersey, followed by two seasons at Northwest College in Powell, Wyoming, posting 13.4 points and 8.0 rebounds per game as a sophomore. Those sparkling numbers landed him a NCAA Div. I opportunity at Wisconsin-Green Bay, where he averaged 15.7 minutes along with 3.0 points and 2.7 rebounds per game last season. He scored a season-high 16 points in the Phoenix’s 95-83 win over the Detroit-Mercy Titans on Dec. 28.